Great Britain women's team were blocked from training at the City of Coventry Stadium ahead of Olympic Games quarter-final with Canada.

Hope Powell's side and their opponents Canada had been scheduled to train this evening but Fifa and Locog decided to protect the surface after the recent schedule and spells of heavy rain.

Instead both nations were forced to relocate and participate in sessions at Warwick University.

But Canada have the advantage of having already played twice at the stadium during the tournament. Powell, when asked if it was frustrating not to train at the stadium, said: "Yes. We only found out very late this afternoon. It is a little bit disappointing especially now the weather has changed and the sun is coming out. I'm sure that would have dried the pitch out a little but it is what it is. We just have to get on with it.

"Does it give Canada an advantage? They have played on the surface twice. We are coming back after training for a familiarisation period to have a look around the place.

"But the girls are hopefully professional enough to just get on with the job and so it won't be a distraction to us."

The stadium has housed 10 Olympic matches in the past week and Powell ruled out making an official complaint. She said: "These people have a job to do that: make decisions. They try and make decisions in the best interest of the game.

"If they are saying the pitch can't take a training session because it is likely to cut up which will affect the surface for tomorrow, I'm quite comfortable with it. We will train away from the stadium and then come back and have a look. I'm not going to make it an issue."

A joint Fifa and Locog statement said: "Fifa and Locog took the decision to protect the pitch. The teams were scheduled to train on it but have been moved to Warwick University."